‘The Voice': Judges Praise Kristen Merlin After Mic Malfunction

‘The Voice’ live shows kicked off on Monday, April 21, and one particular performance brought a whole new meaning to live television — Kristen Merlin’s microphone died! The singer handled the malfunction like a pro and HollywoodLife.com spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Kristen, Adam and Blake about her brave comeback.

Kristen Merlin is an amateur singer, as a contestant on The Voice, but she proved to have the stage presence of a pro when she kept singing, after her microphone cut out! Even the superstar judges praised her during their panel critique, and Adam Levineand Blake Shelton praised Kristen, after the live show wrapped. Is Kristen now the frontrunner? Keep reading to see what the judges had to say!

Go Kristen! Anyone who watched The Voicelive shows on Monday, April 21, was surely impressed by country singer Kristen Merlin’s brave reaction, after her microphone died, while she was singing Sugarland‘s “Stay.”

Kristen, who is on Team Shakira, was in the middle of her beautiful rendition of the ballad when, all of a sudden, her microphone cut out! But like a true star, she kept on singing, even though the audience or at-home viewers couldn’t hear her. She tried to adjust her ear piece, but she didn’t flinch and just kept on going on! Eventually, a crew member brought her a functional microphone, but by that time, the judges were already overly impressed with her brave performance!

Blake Shelton & Adam Levine Praise Kristen Merlin

HollywoodLife.com was at the live show last night, and Blake Shelton and Adam Levine gave us their rave reviews for Kristen, after her microphone mishap!

“Uhhh, I’ve definitely had some microphones stop working…nothing like that on live television,” Blake told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “I can’t honestly say that I’ve had anything that bad happen.”

Adam Levine also weighed in, telling reporters, “It’s confusing when all of a sudden the vocal craps out, but I was also impressed and amazed by her poise and her ability to come back on that. To me, that’s the ultimate test.”

So does Adam think her brave reaction will help her in the game?

“Now, the crazy thing for her is that she gets to go through the rest of this competition, like ‘Nothing can make me nervous [because] I just experienced hell for anyone in my position.’ So, I’m excited for her…I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned a corner and did crazy amazing things that maybe she wasn’t even capable of before this new burst of confidence.”

Kristen Merlin Talks To HollywoodLife.com

Before Kristen’s unexpected blunder, HollywoodLife.com spoke to her and she revealed the scariest thing about going into the live shows is the voting (we bet she didn’t see a broken microphone coming)!

“The scariest thing is that it is no longer in the coaches hands. It is in America’s hands,” Kristen told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “So you have to wow everybody and pull people’s heartstrings and that is what I plan to do!”

And boy, did she! Sometime the biggest mistakes are blessings in disguise, and Kristen’s poised performance sure did pull on America’s heartstrings.

Kristen also told us that no matter what song she sings, she will make it her own. And that could not have been more evident last night! “I tend to gravitate towards country but will try any genre — but I would put a Kristen Merlin spin to it!”

HollywoodLifers, were you impressed by Kristen’s performance and brave reaction last night? Let us know if she’s one of your favorite contestants on this season of The Voice!